Ivindo National Park

Customary rights of local populations are maintained in the law, with a mechanism, the “local consultative management committee” (CCGL) bringing together park management and local communities as well as other stakeholders including the forestry concessions (ANPN, 2020). However, the CCGL, presided by the Conservator of the park, doesn't appear to have met, with the Management Plan stating that the CCGL would be in place in 2016 (ANPN, 2016). There was no record of the CCGL functioning at time of inscription (IUCN, 2021). The CCGL was supposed to be renewed with new activities in 2024 (State Party, 2024) but it appears that the CCGL system does not work (IUCN Consultation, 2025). Local concerns include fishing, bushmeat hunting, plant collection and visitation of sacred site rights, gold panning and sand collection, elephant crop raiding, etc. (ANPN, 2016).

The park was created by decree in 2002, but full legal protection was only put into place in 2007, with additional laws on hunting and collection of non-timber products in 2011 and 2012 (ANPN, 2020). These laws appear adequate although weak. For example, the law would not stop extremely damaging activities, such as the construction of a hydro-electric plant along the park’s waterfalls, if this was deemed in the national interest (although the law states that any downgrading of a site needs to be compensated by an equivalent addition). Likewise, mining or oil prospection is not allowed (unless the Council of Ministers decrees it is necessary).

The “local consultative management committee” (CCGL), presided by the Conservator of the park, is inscribed in law, but is a consultative body. The Conservator of the park, who changes regularly, makes their staff. The Conservator reports to a higher authority in Libreville. The organigram of the park was not yet approved in the last Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

No information available.

The park as well as the legal 5 km surrounding buffer zone is entirely under State ownership. Some small villages that occurred inside the park had been moved out during colonial times in the 1930’s to regroup all the villages alongside the Makokou-Ovan road (ANPN, 2020). There is some confusion regarding boundaries of the buffer zone, as private land to the north of the park appears to lie within the 5 km legally mandated buffer zone.

The Ramsar site covers part of the Ivindo river and extends beyond the property. There also appears to be a project to designate Invindo as a Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO, 2024). The extent to which the overlapping international designations are effectively managed is not clear.

In 2021 the WH Committee requested an updated Management Plan for February 1, 2023 (the last Management Plan was for 2016-2020), and the same request was reiterated in 2024, for February 1, 2025. Due to the political transition this has not happened, but an updated Management Plan is in preparation (State Party, 2024). In 2021 the WH Committee recommended that all the logging concessions surrounding the park be FSC-certified. Today of 5 concessions bordering the park, 2 are FSC-certified, 2 are in the process and 1 has a Management Plan (State Party, 2024). To date there is no infrastructure or development project underway (State Party, 2024).

No detailed information available. Although the State Party has signed an agreement (the Central African Forest Initiative) for funding from Norway of $150 million over 10 years, corresponding to the payment of carbon emission reductions to which the park has contributed (WHC, 2021).

A Management Plan for 2016-2020 (ANPN, 2016) exists. Delays caused by COVID-19 and the political transition in Gabon in 2023 delayed the updating process, but with funding from Norway it is now under way with the launch of the call for tenders in October 2023 (State Party, 2024).

An anti-poaching unit and trained ecoguards (30 out of 40 ecoguard positions were filled, ANPN, 2020) are relatively well-equipped and work on a rotating basis. However, this is insufficient for a park the size of Ivindo. Also, the efficiency of law enforcement is largely dependent on the Conservator, who changes fairly regularly. Current staffing levels are unknown, although reports of ecoguards not being paid for months are recurrent (IUCN, 2021; IUCN Consultation, 2025).

Ivindo National Park receives financial and technical support from the State and its development partners, such as the French Development Agency (AFD), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), as well as in the framework of its participation in the Central African Forest Initiative (the State Party has signed an agreement for funding from Norway of $150 million over 10 years, corresponding to the payment of carbon emission reductions to which the park has contributed). The management of the property requires sufficient and long-term funding, which is ensured by its own resources and contributions from other partners (SoOUV, 2021; WHC, 2021). Since inscription it has been reported that the ecoguards, essential for protecting the property, go for months without being paid as their salaries are dependent on foreign donations (IUCN Consultation, 2025). There is no information on how much funding the State government contributes to the property, hopefully when the political situation stabilises this will become clearer. With the recent loss of funding of USAID, there is some cause for concern. The last Management Plan included activities budgeted at 10.6 million Euro (CFA 6.927.150.000), but with no indication of the budget the park actually received. A US $60 million collaboration by France and The Nature Conservancy has been announced (TNC, 2024), but again no indication on how much of this will go to the park.

The nomination (ANPN, 2020) noted that the Conservator of Ivindo is seconded by a deputy as well as heads of operations, conservation, anti-poaching unit, tourism, and communication and environmental education. The total staff for Ivindo listed in the nomination is 72, with 53 positions filled. Of these, 30 out of 40 ecoguard positions are filled, plus operational staff (e.g. mechanic, boatmen, accountant, etc.). The Management Plan (ANPN, 2016) had fewer positions (e.g. 26 ecoguards) but outlined an ideal staffing scenario. No reports on training and development were available, but this is detailed and budgeted for in the Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

No information on education and interpretation programmes undertaken is available, but are detailed and budgeted for in the Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

Tourism to this remote area has always been low (Lescuyer & Ntougou, 2006; Avomo Ndong, 2017), and after COVID-19 and then the political transition in 2023 there has been almost no tourism (IUCN, 2024). However, tourism plans are detailed and budgeted for in the Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

The only nearby communities lie in the north of the park, and some people fish along the Ivindo River up to a designated area above the Kongou Falls, but unknown to what extent this is sustainable (Pyhälä et al., 2016). The local community also collect NTFPs (Yobo & Ito, 2015), and hunt bushmeat, although both these activities are prohibited inside the park boundaries, causing conflict between the park management and local communities (Pyhälä et al., 2016).

A faunistic inventory by the IRET (Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET) is underway, and a phenological study on flowering and fruiting of trees was started beginning 2024 (State Party, 2024). Indicators for monitoring all activities are detailed and budgeted for in the Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

The Ipassa Research Station, situated inside the park at its northern entrance, has historically been globally important for tropical rainforest ecology in the 1980’s, but at time of inscription most activity seemed to have ceased (IUCN, 2021).The Tropical Ecology Research Institute (IRET) is responsible for Ipassa and coordinates research. International research organisations such as the Missouri Botanic Gardens continue to undertake research in and around Ivindo. Research activities are detailed and budgeted for in the Management Plan (ANPN, 2016).

Although there is no up-to-date Management Plan, the effectiveness of the management system is largely up to the Conservator of the park, who can engage in adaptive management (IUCN Consultation, 2025). The park management has to deal with the surrounding logging concessions and potentially poachers who can enter the park more easily due to logging roads (although the logging companies police the roads and provide a barrier to entrance into the park). Lack of a clear management system and dependence on a strong Conservator to manage external threats outside the site is cause for concern.

As mentioned above, the effectiveness of the management system is largely up to the Conservator of the park, who can engage in adaptive management (IUCN Consultation, 2025). While the level of threat inside the site is low, the park management still has to deal with conflict with the local community to the north which enter the park for hunting and NTFP collection, and to ensure law enforcement prevents poaching inside the park elsewhere (not easy for such a large area covering nearly 300,000 ha and buffer zone of over 182,000 ha,). Lack of a clear management system and dependence on a strong Conservator to manage threats inside the site is cause for concern.